1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to monitoring vehicle operating conditions and, in particular, to techniques for collecting and correlating vehicle diagnostic and geographic position data to facilitate the building of a central data repository for use in analyzing how vehicle routing correlates, e.g., with engine data and maintenance history.
2. Description of the Related Art
Enterprises that run and maintain large vehicle fleets have ongoing problems with efficient maintenance. An effective maintenance program typically is dependent upon reliable monitoring of vehicle use and accurate collection of use data. As the size of the fleet increases, data monitoring and collection becomes more problematic, especially if different operators are assigned the responsibility for driving the same vehicle. Indeed, the problem is exacerbated when vehicle demand is high.
There have been attempts to address this problem in the prior art, none of which have proven satisfactory. For example, it is known in the prior art to collect operational information from a set of vehicles and to transmit such information to a central location for maintenance purposes. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,844,473 to Kaman, each provisioned vehicle includes a data collection unit having a transceiver for transmitting vehicular information from the collection unit to a central data collection computer through a cellular system. The data collection unit also includes a safety inspection button that is activated by the operator to indicate that the operator has inspected the vehicle for safety defects and certified to the operability of the vehicle. The vehicle may also include a global positioning system (GPS) to enable the central computer to locate the vehicle. In operation, the central computer polls a given vehicle, which then returns accumulated use information together with the safety inspections data. The central computer correlates information on a number of vehicles and provides basic maintenance recommendations.
The data collection techniques described in the Kaman patent are not satisfactory. The central computer must identify a particular vehicle and then issue specific commands to that vehicle. Moreover, the system does not take into consideration that different operators may be driving the same vehicle at different times, under different operating conditions, and over different routes. Thus, the basic maintenance recommendations generated by the central computer are not route- or operator-specific. As a result, a given maintenance operation on a particular vehicle may not be well directed. The overall goal of maintaining the vehicle fleet as a whole may likewise suffer as a result.
Vehicle-centric maintenance systems are also known in the art. One such representative technique is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,201 to DeGraaf. This patent describes an in-vehicle navigation system that includes a CPU, GPS, a display for displaying vehicle service reminders, and an input device to permit the driver to define service intervals. The GPS continuously inputs date and time data into a CPU, which compares that data to the user-defined vehicle service intervals. When the time or distance have exceeded the intervals, the CPU generates a vehicle service reminder on the display. The driver can then request the navigation system to guide the driver to an appropriate vehicle service location. The DeGraaf system, however, is not intended to interface with a central collection computer and, thus, it is not a useful solution for maintaining a fleet of vehicles.
The present invention addresses this problem.
Data records transmitted from a plurality of vehicles are collected at a central data repository, where realtime or batch analysis and profiling can take place to facilitate vehicle fleet maintenance. Preferably, each data record includes data derived by synchronizing on-board diagnostic computer output and GPS 3-dimensional location data, correlated by time and tagged with vehicle identification information. At each vehicle, this data is preferably converted to a suitable format (e.g., Extensible Markup Language (XML)) and forwarded to the central data repository via cellular Internet.
The central data repository includes analysis and profiling routines to identify immediate operational problems on a given vehicle, e.g., engine overheating, as well as overall fleet operational behavior, i.e. which vehicles, drivers and routes lead, over time, to increased maintenance costs. The analysis routine, for example, may identify those routes that lead to increased maintenance expenses, and it may identify which vehicles exhibit out-of-specification operation or which routes tend to force out-of-specification operation and with what frequency. The profiling routine correlates operators with vehicle performance and routing, for example, to identify those combinations of drivers and routes that produce maintenance problems. As data is collected over time, the experience database becomes more and more valuable and enables the fleet manager to improve its fleet operational decisions, such as route scheduling, maintenance scheduling, vehicle purchasing, driver assignments, and the like.
It is thus a primary object of the present invention to provide a method whereby vehicle and engine diagnostic data along with geographic position data are combined, synchronized, and forwarded to a data repository. The information may then by analyzed and correlated to provide maintenance history along with vehicle routing in an integrated manner. Analysis and profiling of fleet data may thereby be effected.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects and features of the present invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the invention. Many other beneficial results can be obtained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention as will be described. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the following Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment.